#Robin's 2022

[rockingrobin69]

My year in fic 2022

Some lovely people on here tagged me to participate. In true Robin fashion, I waited till the last minute, but for a good reason. 

You see, for me, 2022 was year of the short story, year of the tumblr. And it just so happens that yesterday I’ve reached 200 shorts over the course of the year! Ranging from 50 to 2,500 words, in all flavours of fluff, h/c, angst, soft, you name it. 200 fics.

And... that calls for a bit of a celebration, I think. Of the Robin kind (some self recs, some ramblings, and a lot, a lot of love). 

Self rec - Five Fics I Still Think About Occasionally 

Opportune (100 words):  

They didn’t have any food, and the blanket in the boot was still dirty from that day on the beach, so Harry popped into Greggs for sausage rolls and transfigured his own jacket into something mat-adjacent.

as-you-wish (500 words): 

One year they went as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. It was Draco’s idea: he kept saying how funny it’d be, how fitting. “Seeing as I am, one must admit, a hugely bad influence,” he said with a kiss to Harry’s nose. “And you’re so easily led, if the Prophet is to be believed.”

Wholeheart (500 words): 

There was nothing he didn’t allow him, to say, to do, to needlessly, extravagantly buy. As if he’s made it his life’s mission to give Harry anything he could ever want. Like he was quite content with watching Harry let loose, with letting him melt and unravel and then joyfully, purposefully tie him back together again.

The possibly grave case of madeleines (900 words): 

Lo-Mal-Draco sighed. “I’m sorry to be bothering you with this petty business so early in the morning, but I’m afraid something’s afoot. After the grand job you did at Lancashire, I thought perhaps I could use your remarkable skills once again.”

The blush came on in bits and pieces, warm on his face. “I wasn’t exactly… just happened to be… would love to be use—of use—do you really think you’re in danger?”

“Not enough to warrant further delay on the tea, no.”

Charged (2,500 words): 

By the end of October Harry knew he had a serious problem. It wasn’t so much how tiny little changes made such a transformation in the place he thought he knew. Wasn’t the scented candles, or the potted plants taking over every flat surface, or the new rug instead of the hideous carpet, the soft one. It wasn’t even the new bedsheets that appeared in his cupboard, ones that didn’t make his skin itch.

It was this: in the middle of his living room, sprawled on the sofa in socks and a house coat—where the fuck did he even get that?—hair still wet, moaning with absolutely no shame around something chocolatey and terrible.

It was this: Malfoy wouldn’t leave.

Also, cheekily: this year I participated in three month-long fests -

28 drabbles for @hdcandyheartsfest (as gentle as you can imagine)

31 drabbles for @domaystic (truly truly fluffy)

31 entries for  @flufftober (you can - I mean you can pretty much guess. it’s SOFT.)

Ramblings:

The thing is, my friends, the thing is, none of this would have happened without you. None. Not one fic would have ever been posted if it wasn’t for your encouragement, your enthusiasm, your example and your love. And so this is in fact a celebration of you!!! Thank you! thank you! thank you! for inspiring, teaching, indulging, supporting, for being here, for being you. Thank you. 

Love: YOU! 

[oncillabrigade]

Finally read Robins!

I have a lot of thoughts, but I just want to say this panel is the funniest thing I've ever seen:

[yrkhn]

Vic and Dick. 2022

[homarcide-aest]

battinson deserves a snarky 10 year old damnit

[robinlolo]

Battinson with Dick Grayson :D

[werewolf-in-sweaters]

Bruce: Rules are made to be broken. Clark: They were made to be followed. Nothing is made to be broken. Dick: Uh, piñatas. Jason: Glow sticks. Tim: Karate boards. Damian: Spaghetti when you have a small pot. Bruce: Rules. Clark:

[dragonpyre]

You don’t understand how much of a visceral need I have for Battinson to get a Robin. That late 20’s man deserves to have a thirteen year old bully him into letting them fight crime. Look at him, pathetic

[havenandart]

hey since you said the ask box was open AND that you were watching battinson might i humbly request a battinson + robin??

battinson's emotionally wet cat ass trying to show bonding/affection by mentoring young dick grayson.........

+ dick begrudgingly allowing the eye black because he is Very Brave and Wants To Go

[millenianthemums]

i was thinking about how a lot of horror stories set in one location get the “why don’t they just leave” criticism, but in real life it isn’t usually that simple. even really mild reasons characters might have for not leaving or for going back to the scary place can make total sense sometimes. and i thought about OJ’s “i got mouths to feed” thing, about taking care of the horses.

but then i was like “well OJ didn’t JUST care about the horses, it was also about not wanting Jean Jacket to win. but yeah he cares a lot about the horses, it makes sense. and he’s not the type to make big heroic speeches anyway, he’s not showy like that.”

and then i realized something cool about OJ as a character. OJ not being showy, not caring about spectacle, is what sets him apart from everybody else in the movie. others see the spectacle, he sees the people and animals caught up in it. in his first scene the others want to hurry and film, but he sees the horse is stressed; if they’d listened to him and backed off, it wouldn’t have kicked. he tried to save the motorcyclist who was just yelling at him to get the camera before being eaten. he’s the kind of person who wasn’t around on the Gordy set, who knew when to stop pushing and listen before something bad happened.

He was the only one who realized not to look in Jean Jacket’s eye. He didn’t give in and look up at the spectacle in the sky. He kept his eyes low, and because of that he saw the ones on the ground who were suffering and wanted to help. He SAW the horses, he cared for them and he risked his life to save Lucky. He SAW his sister when their dad broke a promise to her for fame and money.

Emerald was the one who got the “money shot” of Jean Jacket and defeated it. i think that was important and good for her to do. Defeating this thing that had caused her so much pain, that had killed her father, her friends and maybe her brother. And in doing so she captured proof of what she and her friends went through, made sure that suffering wasn’t all for nothing. OJ helped it happen, he was behind the scenes staring down Jean Jacket while she escaped. But Emerald was in the spotlight at the end. She won.

But with all this in mind, I think it’s really beautiful that the final shot of the movie, the REAL money shot, wasn’t Jean Jacket. It wasn’t anything all that weird or spectacular. On the contrary, it was deeply familiar.

It was OJ, on a horse.

[ruestheday]

see too many people say that jason todd is the better fit for the battison verse like recently orphaned dick grayson wasn’t sneaking out at night trying to hunt down his parents killer. jason wouldn’t fit the more gritty version of batman until after his death. dicks like that since day one he can just also crack jokes

don’t even get me started on the fact that if it wasn’t because of bruce seeing himself in a boy who just watched his parents die he wouldn’t even be adopting these children in the first place

dick grayson is the blueprint i’d kill someone if they skipped over him

[theerurishipper]

I feel like people really underestimate the importance of Dick being the first Robin. Like, reverse Robin AUs are interesting and such, but I just hope people realize that in the context of canon, they would never work. The reason Batman and Robin ever works is because the first Robin was Dick Grayson specifically. Because Bruce would never have taken in any child if Dick's tragedy hadn't specifically happened to mirror his own experience. Dick Grayson was the only one Bruce truly saw himself in first, because the fundamental event that defines them is the same. And he sees the opportunity to help someone the way he was never helped, to make sure that Dick didn't go down the dark path he did. So, my point here is that the only one Bruce actually made the choice to take in, the only one who could kickstart it all, is Dick Grayson, because he is the only one with whom Bruce could immediately empathize and connect with.

This never happened with any other Robin. He took in Jason because he missed Dick, he took in Tim because Tim forced himself into the role, he took in Steph because he was trying to make Tim come back to being Robin, and Dick made Damian Robin. Of course, he loved all of them, and they all have their unique relationships with Bruce that are very important and inform their characters, and he does need them too. But he specifically formed this connection with Dick that made Dick the only person he ever considered taking in. It took a very specific set of circumstances in Dick's backstory that made Bruce commit an impulse adoption that just isn't really present in any other Robin's story. And the reason Jason or Tim or Steph or Damian or anyone else whom Bruce has taken under his wing even got that chance is because of the work Dick Grayson put into Bruce Wayne.

Before Dick, Bruce was reckless and didn't care at all about himself, to the point of almost being borderline suicidal. He was more brutal, more violent, etc. The reason all this changed, is because of Dick Grayson specifically. He was the one with whom Bruce opened up, with whom Bruce was forced to grow up, to take responsibility and learn to take care of both Dick and himself. Dick, to Bruce was the one who brought "color to their [his and Alfred's] monochrome lives." Dick Grayson's specific brand of happiness and joy changed Bruce for the better. Dick gave Bruce hope. This is true for other Robins too, but only because they followed the precedent that Dick Grayson set, only because they slid into his role (they have their own interesting relationships with Bruce, but this specifically is from Dick that other Robins carried on. A legacy, if you will). Dick Grayson turned Bruce into the kind of man who would become a serial adopter.

Without his influence, without his precedent, there would be no Batfamily, because Bruce would never have gotten to the point where he would be able or willing to take in someone else and care for them properly (It took living through his trauma again to get him to take Dick in lmao). Hell, there would be no Batman because Bruce would have gotten himself killed a long time ago if Dick hadn't helped him learn self-care. Dick knows Bruce best, because he understands him on a fundamentally deeper level than anyone else in the world. And he's the only one who can make Bruce open up at his rawest, most downtrodden state. He is the only one who can give Bruce at his lowest that kind of hope. There is no Robin without Dick Grayson. It's literally a tribute to his parents, using their colors and the name his mother called him. He created that identity as a symbol of hope. He helped Bruce become the kind of man who could and would let other people that he had to care for into his life. Without Dick Grayson, you can simply forget about any other Robin or the Batfamily as a concept even existing.

[dceasesd]

funniest fucking panel 

[the-batblog]

I watched The Batman (2022) again and, like…

Damn. Bruce really is so freaking angry in that movie. How many times did he take a baddie down to the ground and then he KEPT hitting them! And Alfred was the one who taught him how to fight, so he actually doesn't have the same discipline as other Bruces do. When he fights, it's all power and no finesse. He's just throwing himself at the enemies, he barely has any form most of the time. It's why he takes so many hits.

Battinson is a feral animal. And it really is crazy how, when you take away the Batsuit, he's like a raw nerve. The Batsuit is mental AND physical armor, it gives him not just the ABILITY to walk into gunfire, but also the confidence. I don't think it was an act when Bruce walked in to talk to Carmine and he was standing in the middle of the room like he was afraid to get hit. Like he had no power at all. Even when he was in the hospital, and he was so ANGRY at Alfred, he kept his voice and his chin down and he didn't make eye contact.

I'm rambling. But I loved to see it. Batman as a protector, not just of Gotham, but of Bruce. A Batman who is unrefined and just so, SO angry. A Bruce who is still so totally broken from his childhood trauma. Almost as if not a day had passed. I love this depiction so much.

[gffa]

Absolutely DELIGHTED by Damian's weapons of choice for each of his mind-controlled Robins, "For Tim, a cloak that makes you invisible, so I don't have to see you anymore. For Jason, a giant stabby fork, have fun with that. For Stephanie, a stick to beat people with, it has feathers, you'll probably like that. And for Richard Grayson, the most powerful weapon of all, because he's the only one of you that I actually like and he deserves the best."

[karpimalis]

love gaze

[greeneyed-thestral]